By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate correspondent with New Narratives Summary WEST POINT, Monrovia – Favor James wakes up every morning thinking about water. Not drinking it but selling it – cold water in plastic bags that she hawks on Kru Beach here in the capitals’ largest informal settlement, for a few coins. Born with limited…
Heart disease, cancer, mental illness and diabetes are some of a group of diseases that are growing at an alarming rate in Liberia, killing far more people than better known killers like malaria and typhoid.More than one in three deaths are now caused by so-called lifestyle diseases – preventable diseases that are primarily caused by…
By Tetee Gebro with New Narratives In a three-part series Tetee Gebro, senior reporter with Front Page Africa and New Narratives, examines what health experts call Liberia’s “next epidemic” and the barriers to helping Liberians retake control of their health. NEEZOE, Montserrado County —In 2018, William Pewu was living a regular life like most Liberians. The 54-year-old father of…
Across the country, experts are raising the alarm about the growing number of Liberians becoming sick and dying from so called non-comminable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and stroke.Experts say the greatest tragedy is that they are preventable with the right information and lifestyle changes.But in part two of this series on the crisis, Tetee…
By Tetee Gebro with New Narratives In this series Tetee Gebro, senior reporter with Front Page Africa and New Narratives, examines what health experts call Liberia’s “next epidemic” and the barriers to helping Liberians retake control of their health. In 2018 Kulah Quaqua began her usual day waking up early, heading to her job as…
By Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives It’s been four years since Sensee Morris took the brave decision to call out corruption. It’s a choice very few Liberians make, according to transparency advocates, because of the dangers involved. And Mr. Morris has paid a heavy price. As a deputy managing director of the Liberia Water and…
Momentum for the 2024 Christmas and New Year holidays has faded. As with every part of Liberia, residents of Bong County, one of the country’s populous regions, have complained of economic hardship. They told Joseph Titus Yekeryan, our Bong County correspondent, that the issue prevents them from providing for their families during these holiday periods….
Hunger in Liberia is “serious” according to the latest Global Hunger Index.The number of malnourished people has risen to two in every fiveChild “stunting”, death and wasting has not improved in eight yearsGovernment rejects findings and commits to increasing food production as you will hear in this report by Cyrus Harmon, New Narratives’ senior correspondent….
This month’s shock cancellation of almost all foreign aid by the incoming administration of President Donald Trump has students and teachers across Liberia shellshocked. The US government has made substantial investments in Liberia’s education sector over the years spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Though experts say the education system is still largely dysfunctional, defenders…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives ELWA QUARRY, Monrovia — Fatu Moore pounds rocks hour after hour in this quarry on the outskirts of the capital. Her weathered hands tell a story of survival. For 35 years she has crushed rocks here under the hot sun, transforming boulders into gravel for income to feed…
Flood impacted communities in Liberia say they feel abandoned by government.They have accused the Disaster Management Agency staff of stealing aid en route.As Eric Opa Duoe, New Narratives’ senior correspondent reports, experts say much more needs to be done to protect communities as climate change makes rainy seasons more deadly. New Narratives’ Eric Opa Doue…
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives ITI, River Cess – Last month’s Cestos River Bridge collapse here in the south of River Cess county, has caused chaos across the country, severing the primary route from the capital to southeastern Liberia during the Christmas and new year holiday period. The bridge collapsed under the weight…
By: Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—Joseph Boakai used his second State of the Nation Address this January to promote a big step for women: 39 percent of his ministers – seven out of 19 – are women, the highest ratio of female to male ministers in Liberia’s history. President Boakai hailed it as…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives GARDNERSVILLE, Montserrado —Harriet Mulbah’s eyes brighten as she describes her dream of becoming a nurse. Until recently, that dream seemed impossible for the thirteen-year-old who spent her days guiding her blind mother through Monrovia’s crowded streets, begging for money instead of attending school. Harriet is among the children…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives The sun was just coming up one morning last week when the chief of one local NGO received the email that threatens to have upended her life’s work. The email subject line “A Memo of Our Project, Stop Work Order Notice,” with the letter subject “Suspension Notice” was…
By King Brown with New Narratives KPANDY TOWN, Grand Bassa County– Ezekiel Nwornee lies awake at night, the weight of his future pressing on him. After two years studying here at Grand Bassa University for his associate degree in primary education, he was looking forward to graduating next month. But the decision by United States…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: As Liberia intensifies debate over establishing a long-awaited war crimes court, justice experts are urging lawmakers to explicitly criminalize forced marriage in the court’s founding statute, warning that failure to do so risks sidelining one of the civil wars’ most pervasive abuses. One of these…
By Fatu Kamara with New Narratives Summary In October, as part of World Sight Day celebrations, Liberia’s National Eye Health Program made an exciting announcement: an ambitious program by the unit housed in the Ministry of Health promised to deliver badly needed help to Liberian students struggling with poor vision. The program was to screen…
By Tetee Gebro, New Narratives health correspondent Summary : PENSON TOWN, Montserrado – It was the end of another long Sunday morning for this grandmother, panning through mud in a stream here trying to find enough specks of gold to feed her eight grandchildren. As she walked into the bush on her way to the…
A 57‑year‑old grandmother from rural Montserrado is fighting for justice after surviving rape, but the system meant to protect her has instead demanded illegal fees and placed heavy burdens on her. Her experience highlights how corruption and poverty continue to block many rural women from accessing justice in Liberia, turning an already painful situation into…
By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives ST. PAUL BRIDGE, Montserrado County – Musu sits in a circle in a small community office here. Dozens of community members – mostly women – listen as she tells her story. Musu was just 15 when a commander with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia took her from her…
